Medicine and Health
Despite or because of the herbalists' ties to Chinese practices, becoming an herbalist became a prominent way for Chinese Angelenos to attain connections with the broader, elite, white society. Unlike food, that could be made more “Americanized,” herbal medicines stayed uniquely Chinese, yet proliferated in Los Angeles. Prominent herbalists were able to move their offices well outside Chinese borders, and actually advertise in the Los Angeles Times. These advertisements targeted white elites but promoted their Chinese heritage. Two cousins started the Foo and Wing Herb Company, a prominent herbalist company that served white Angelenos. Photos exist with white elites, such as the brother of Mayor Henry Hazard, standing outside the Chinese herbal store. Among white elites, women were especially drawn to herbal stores to be treated for disease. This is alleged to be because whereas Western medicine could be very invasive, requiring women patients to undress in front of male doctors, Chinese doctors would at most take a pulse to identify issues. This feeling of safety and comfort drove women to herbal stores to fix their issues (8).
This isn’t to say that Chinese residents did not access Western medicine. Drugstores existed near Chinatown, where Chinese residents would walk over to pick up medicine. For example, residents would go get cough and cold medicine (7). In addition, Chinatown had several companies, or family foundations, that provided healthcare to residents (9). And Chinese residents, when infected by tuberculosis or a plague, could go to a larger Western hospital, though this was late in their infection stage.
Medicine was also readily used by prostitutes located in Chinatown. In the late nineteenth century, prostitution was largely centered in Chinatown in Los Angeles. As such, sexually transmitted diseases were often spread (though patrons came from all over, most prostitutes themselves lived in the neighborhood). Although STDs were not specifically diagnosed and treated in the late 1800s, people still knew about them, and many concoctions were created to both prevent and combat disease. Remnants of these concoctions have been shown in excavations of old Chinatown brothels, signaling that prostitutes were both aware of the possibility of infection, and attempted to treat themselves (10).